Christmas All Year Long

"I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. We try to crowd into it the long arrears of kindliness and humanity of the whole year. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays — let them overtake me unexpectedly — waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: 'Why, this is Christmas Day!'" ~David Grayson, from “A Day of Pleasant Bread,” Adventures in Friendship, 1908.

The Christmas tree has been put away.  Finally?  Nah, sadly.  It was put away yesterday, right up till the very end of January.  So it was my Mom who was ready to finally put it away.  At one point I joked that we should at least have it up till February.  Push the boundaries a little.  Really, I just like the Christmas tree lights all lit up.  But she said if the tree is up all year around it would cease to be special.  She has a point.

(I should note that my Grandpa, who lived in Ventura before living with us until his passing, always had his tree up.  It was little.  Ornaments warn.  Still, the lights were never turned off, nor the tree ever put away.) 

It's funny, leading up till Christmas I'm always like, "Must enjoy the moment!  Must enjoy whatever particular holiday we're in!  Thanksgiving hasn't happened yet, I'm not ready for Christmas.  I'm not ready for snow. 0_0"  But once the tree is up I don't want to take it down.

There is something to be said about keeping Christmas all year long.  The spirit of it, not the commercialism.  The kindness.  The service.  All the getting together with loved ones.  There's a special spirit about the holiday season that really should be spread out.  

Earlier this week I was talking with my sister-in-law Krista.  Had a little get together with the fam eating frozen yogurt, and while I was enjoying soft serve blackberry with chocolate chips and strawberries--now I'm craving one--she was telling me that she and Michael with the kids are planning on still doing Christmas the normal way, but also having a personal celebration on April 6, the estimated true birth of Christ, to remember his birth.  That's a nice idea.  Honestly thinking of doing that myself.

So whatever you believe, I hope we can all have the spirit of love and kindness all year long.

Little Women, 2019, movie review

Rating: B

Louisa May Alcott's tale of the four March sisters--Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy--has been visually delighting audiences for over a century.  The first adaptation was a British silent film made in 1917, though it is now lost, but thankfully a silent film featuring Alcott's real home in Concord Massachusetts was filmed in 1918.  Many films has followed since, including the 1949 version I remember watching as a kid with Elizabeth Taylor as Amy.

2018 alone had both a three episode mini series that played on PBS and a limited modern version that came to select screens.  Though, guiltily, my favorite version is the 1978 television series because it has both William Shatner and John de Lancie, James T Kirk and Q on Star Trek, and as a Trek fan it's just so amusing.  There's also a Japanese anime series called Tales of Little Women, which is currently on Amazon Prime with four seasons, and now I need to watch that.

As I write this I'm watching the PBS version, also on Amazon Prime, because I haven't seen it, and it keeps distracting me.  Also, as I prepared for this review I listened to a 19h 37m Audible book read by Barbara Caruso, having never read the original story, and it took a few weeks to get through, which is why this review is late.

This latest incarnation is nice.

And at the moment feeling redundant.

How many retellings do we really need?  Is this version worth a watch?  I mean, it's not like we don't have options.  The 1994 version is also well loved.

Greta Gerwig has made a beautifully shot film.  A few weeks ago I read an article about how this new version is novel simply for combining the past and present through flashbacks.  Obviously they didn't watch the 2018 modern version that employed the same technique with more success.  This 2019 time-period version gets convoluted with all the time jumps, causing confusion at times, specifically during the scene where Beth gets sick.  Knowing the story is a must with differentiating between past and present in parts.  Whereas the modern 2018 version makes the time jumps much more obvious.  Overall the 2019 version is more successful as a film, the modern 2018 version is cheesy with an overly irate Jo with nice sentiments, but in choosing between the two the 2019 version is superior.

Another aspect of this newer version is the treatment of Amy, softening her, where she is usually shown as a complete brat.  Switching between past and present helps.  We see her mature older self early on, her connection with Laurie, verses a concentration on her bratty younger self.  In the book she really is a brat.  But it was interesting listening to the book, because the Amy character really grows during the course of the two novels (Little Women and Good Wives is typically connected as one).  Seeing Amy get a proper treatment is nice.  And honestly, after listening to the book, more so than this new movie, I don't fault Amy at all for getting the European trip.  Jo was such a jerk during that time that she was her own worse enemy.

One of the major issues I have with this movie is the ending, as we get two endings.  Switching between past and present wasn't enough.  By the time the two time lines catch up, we then get the duel ending.  The ending Jo must write to appease the publisher verses the ending Alcott originally wanted for the novel.  It's confusing.  I picked up on the change and verified this movie's ending online, and then talked to my Mom and Sister-in-law about it, both of whom had no idea and thought the publisher ending is the true ending in combination with the other ending.  As far as they are concerned Jo and the Professor still get married, because the movie's ending is so unclear they can decide for themselves what the ending means, therefore eradicating the new ending Greta wanted to portray.  Both can be true, as by the ending we're used to jumping around.

I can get nit-picky about some other things, but will leave it at that.  The acting is strong.  Saoirse Ronan is a great Jo March.  And now that I've made it through the book I want to re-watch this movie to compare more thoroughly book verses film.  And I want to watch all the other versions, including the anime, but honestly who has the time for all that?  Just getting a hold of all the versions would be difficult.  But it would be interesting to compare all the adaptations.

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements and brief smoking.

P.S. I'm halfway through the PBS Masterpiece version, and Angela Lansbury is simply the best Aunt March.  She's such a delight.

Finally Burning the Prince Harry/Meghan Markle Wedding Candle

Okay, heh, hmmmmm, what should I really say about this??!!

Well, not much.  To say the least Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have been in the news a lot lately.  If you don't know why, I'm an little envious.  In all honestly I've always been a little fascinated with the British monarchy.  Mainly because my Mom and Princess Diana were born the same year and married the same year, I'm the same age as Prince William, and my brother Michael is the same age as Harry, so growing up I've always been aware and curious of all this royal stuff.

In September of 2018 I visited Buckingham Palace with my Mom, and the gift shop was giving away free commemorative candles celebrating the marriage of Harry and Meghan if enough was spent.  I bought a couple things and got the candle.

So this whole Prince Harry and Meghan Markle thing has been all over the place, everywhere, memes, news stories, and whatnot, and I've got opinions, and honestly not the least bit surprised, and I'll leave it at that, because there's quite the divide in opinions, and we're all entitled to our opinions.  But then I realized something!  I still have their commemorative candle.  I shouldn't let it go to waste.  The smell is honestly quite nice: White lilies, orange blossom, neroli, tuberose, violets, and lily of the valley.  It's supposed to be good for 40 hours.  We'll see. 

And now I need to get back to life.  Have a great weekend.

Walking Around Meiji Shrine in Tokyo, Japan

(April, 2019).  Meiji Shrine is always a good idea.  The first time I visited was back in 2015 with my brother and sister-in-law, and for this trip with my Mom and a couple of other brothers I knew they would love to see this tranquil place.

Meiji Shrine and its surrounding park is beautiful.  It's a nice break from the city.  Quiet.  Peaceful.  A true escape.  Perhaps if I ever got to visit Tokyo again it would be good to visit other parks to compare, just to simply see more of the city, but Meiji shrine, which is close to Harajuku, is worth the visit.  Both times I loved it.  Both visits I enjoyed seeing the trees.

Weathering With You, movie review

Rating: C+

Hodaka is a boy on the run, escaping life on a small island for the large city of Tokyo, and since he's a minor there's only so many places he can hide without attracting notice from the police.  It also doesn't help that he finds a gun right outside a club.  Meanwhile Hina is a girl with her own set of troubles, and it is while her Mom is in the hospital that she runs outside, following a ray of light, and stops the rain.  It's been raining in Tokyo.  Nonstop.  All everyone wants is a little sunshine.  Hina discovers she's the sunshine girl, able to bring light to a drenched world.

Weathering With You is the latest movie by writer and director Makoto Shinkai.  He became well known a few years ago with Your Name, though other beautiful works of his precede this anime.  Shinkai has a unique style.  He's able to captor nature elements in such an elegant way that no other animation holds a candle.  His ability to animate and stylize water alone is iconic and extraordinary.  It's one of his artistic signatures.

Shinkai's latest movie is a visual work of art.  Seeing different sides and landmarks of Tokyo was a joy, giving me heart-pangs for another visit.  Someday.  And it's so nice seeing two-dimensional hand drawn animation thriving, though Weathering With You has 3D animation here and there, but there's a life and emotion that can be better shown with drawing verses computers.  Just think of the two versions of Lion King.  Realism is nice, but there's so much more heart in a 2D character plane.  In Weathering With You nature becomes its own character.

Where Weathering With You lacks, and where Your Name was capital, is with the story itself.  The pacing is slow at times.  The plot loose.  It's good when movies breathe, but there was a little too much breath.  Though there are aspects of this movie I did like, and some of the messaging interesting, ultimately I found it rather sad.  There's a spot towards the end where I think it's supposed to be tragic, but members of the audience laughed, and I said with an undertone, "Are you kidding me?"  And then I felt removed, questioning characters, questioning mythos, and wondering what ever happened, long term, to the other maidens.

Weathering With You is a nice movie, and it is worth a watch for anime fans.  Would I recommend this for everyone?  Maybe.  All forms of animation needs to be supported, especially the dying art of hand-drawn.  But if I was to recommend Your Name or Weathering With You, I'd recommend Your Name.

Rated PG-13 for suggestive material, some violence and language.

The Reality of Stars, an original poem

Dark nights have long since passed,

Their tales of woe forgot. 

Do wolves still howl at beaming moons?

Do stars still spell of stories warn?

Legends lost as light spreads over

Rivers, trees, and moors.

No darkness creeps,

Nor nothing weeps over silvery ghostly yarns. 

Nearby villagers often ask,

Wondering of the start,

When did Nighttime lose his might?

Truth is long forgot. 

Village elders tell their tales,

Remembering twilight's past.

They tell when Night would fill the sky,

Before it came to naught.

Earth would cool,

Stars would beam,

Shadows of time still had a seam.

Now everyone dreams in light,

There seems to be no nighttime fright

Still, when did nighttime lose his might?

When children ask about the dark,
Tales of woe fancy their souls.
They wonder if there was a night,
Questions they'll always mourn.

~ Sarah Stufflebeam

(I haven't written a poem since that haiku back in September, 2018.  Thought it would be good to maybe start writing poems again.  It's a good practice. :0)

Walking the Streets of Ginza, Tokyo Japan

(April, 2019).  One of the main places I wanted to visit with my Mom and brothers was Itoya in Ginza.  What's that?  Well, it's a Japanese stationary store split between two buildings, about 10 levels between the two, or so.  It's a nerds dream, and I wanted to experience this dream.  Itoya is about a 9 minutes walk from Tokyo Station, if you don't get distracted, at about 700 meters. 

There are many things in this area I wanted to see.  There's a Kabuki theater.  The Imperial Palace is about a mile walk from Itoya, which was our plan.  Visit Itoya, maybe visit other stores, and then walk to the Imperial Palace.  We got distracted.  Didn't follow the plan.  We went on a Sunday, and on Sunday's the major shopping street in Ginza is closed to vehicles and completely opened for pedestrians.  It was so much fun that we ended up spending our whole time here.  And I loved geeking over Japanese stationary, and later music stuff at the Yamaha store.

 

Pictures by Sarah, Robin, Steven, and Ty